MOSCOW – Russian citizens consider the United States and Ukraine as potential sources of military threat, VCIOM said.
Sixty-three percent of those who believe that the threat of a military attack exists said they see the U.S. as a source of military threat and 31 percent said they see Ukraine as such threat, VCIOM said.
They are followed by NATO (7 percent), China (5 percent), the UK (4 percent), ISIL (terrorist organization banned in Russia) (4 percent), Syria and Germany (3 percent each), a nationwide poll conducted by phone on June 16-17 shows. The poll surveyed 1,200 respondents.
In a difficult situation, the respondents expect allies’ support primarily from China (41 percent), Belarus (25 percent) and Kazakhstan (18 percent).
“The countries of the former USSR get a total of some 20 percent. There are people who expect support from the U.S. and Ukraine, but such people are few – 2 percent each. Ten percent of respondents believe we have no one to seek assistance from in the event of a military attack,” VCIOM said.
Commenting on the poll results, VCIOM General Director Valery Fyodorov said that “the hopes for the normalization of Russian-U.S. relations, which our compatriots had when Donald Trump was elected president of the U.S., have not eventuated yet.”
“The toughening of the anti-Russian policies of the Kyiv authorities is becoming increasingly obvious. On this unfavorable economic background, the Russians are inclined to see the main military threat in America and Ukraine, and they expect help and support from the allies in the CSTO (Belarus and Kazakhstan) and the privileged strategic partner, China,” Fyodorov said.
